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Sunday, December 20, 2015

Trade unions test Qatari sincerity with demands for labour reform

International trade unions have stepped up pressure on Qatar
with a series of demands, a majority of which the Gulf state could implement
without having to reform its autocracy or threaten the privileged position of
its citizenry who account for a mere 12 percent of the population and fear that
change could cost them control of their culture and society.

The demands in a report by the
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) that also include calls for
changes that would challenge autocratic rule, come at a time that world soccer
body FIFA could become obliged to more forcefully pressure Qatar to move beyond
baby steps it has already taken towards speedy implementation of far-reaching
reform of its kafala or sponsorship system that puts employees at the mercy of
their employers.

Many of the ITUC demands are likely to be on FIFA’s list if
it implements recommendations to incorporate UN human rights guidelines in all
its procedures, processes and decision-making. FIFA has requested a Harvard
University professor to present it by March with a report on how to adopt the
guidelines.

The ITUC report and FIFA’s potentially greater role come as
pressure on Qatar is mounting with legal investigations into the integrity of
its successful 2022 World Cup bid. A Swiss judicial investigation focusses exclusively
on the Qatari bid as well as Russia’s winning of the hosting rights for the
2018 World Cup, while US attorney general Loretta Lynch recently expressed hope
that Qatar would cooperate with a Department of Justice investigation into FIFA
that has already led to the indictment of some 40 officials and entities.

Hassan al-Thawadi, the secretary general of Qatar’s 2022
Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, said Qatar has yet to be contacted
by Swiss or US authorities.

Theo Zwanziger, the former FIFA executive committee member
who was in charge until last May for monitoring Qatari progress towards labour
reform, has meanwhile lost confidence in the Gulf state’s sincerity.

Mr. Zwanziger, who has been sued by Qatar for libel after he
described the Gulf state as a “cancerous growth on world football,” said Qatari
labour reforms were “a sham.” He called for depriving Qatar of its World Cup
hosting rights and a fan boycott in protest against the Gulf state’s violations
of human rights.

In its report, the ITUC demanded Qatar begin reform of
kafala by eliminating exit visas and giving workers the right to change jobs,
authorize contracts between employers or reputable recruitment companies and
employees, and introduce a national minimum wage, a company grievance procedure
and an independent labour court.

Implementation of these demands would not challenge the
fundament’s of Qatar’s family rule political structure compared to other ITUC
demands such as the trade unions’ insistence on worker representation through
elected representatives and the right to collective bargaining. The ITUC,
however, stopped short in its report of demanding abolition of kafala or the
formation of independent trade unions.

Qatar by moving on ITUC’s non-political demands, most of
which could be implemented quickly, would significantly counter mounting
pressure and perceptions that it is not serious about making good on pledges for
reform. Qatari moves so far fall far short of the Gulf state’s initial
promises.

Significant segments of Qatari society oppose labour reform
out of fear that it would open a Pandora’s Box to demands for more political and
cultural rights by the Gulf state’s majority non-Qatari population.

Fears in the business community that abolishment of the exit
visa would potentially enable expatriates who manage Qatari businesses to
abscond with company funds could easily be assuaged with the introduction of a
government guarantee modelled on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC) in the United States that guarantees deposits in US banks. Despite the
drop in global commodity prices and a projected budget deficit of $12.77
billion in 2016, Qatar would be capable of absorbing the cost of a minimum
wage.

The ITUC report put foreign companies involved in the
construction in Qatari projects, including ones related to the World Cup, on
the spot by accusing them of exploiting underpaid workers that they in the
trade unions’ words use as "modern-day slaves.” The report asserted that workers
building the Khalifa International Stadium were earning $1.50 an hour.

The report estimated that “$15 billion profit will be made
by companies working in Qatar on infrastructure… Every CEO operating in Qatar
is aware that their profits are driven by appallingly low wage levels -- wages
that are often based on a system of racial discrimination -- and that these
profits risk safety, resulting in indefensible workplace injuries, illnesses
and deaths," the report quoted ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow as
saying.

Speedy and serious moves towards labour reform would not
only strengthen Qatar’s hand in fending off ITUC’s more political demands but
also hand it a needed public diplomacy success at a time that the Gulf state
has on balance taken a public relations beating.

News about the World Cup has been dominated by questions
about the integrity of the Qatari bid and criticism of the Gulf state’s labour
regime. Add to that reporting on the recent blocking of an article critical of
Saudi Arabia’s human rights record on the main websites of the state-owned Al
Jazeera television network in a bid not to offend Qatar’s big brother.

Further contributing to Qatar’s woes, is a report by a
senior professor from Northwestern University, which prides itself on its
journalism program, that concluded that lack of academic freedom deprived the
university of any justification to maintain its campus in the Gulf state.

“Should we pull out? Yes, if we can’t be assured that
students and faculty can investigate and report what they want without fear of
arrest or expulsion. The education of Qatar women — the daughters of
millionaires — and other Middle Eastern elites (worthwhile as it may be), is
not an essential mission of Northwestern University,” said art historian Stephen
F. Eisenman.

James M.
Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies,
co-director of the University of Wuerzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture, a
syndicated columnist, and the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog and a forthcoming book with
the same title.

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About Me

James M DorseyWelcome to The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer by James M. Dorsey, a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Soccer in the Middle East and North Africa is played as much on as off the pitch. Stadiums are a symbol of the battle for political freedom; economic opportunity; ethnic, religious and national identity; and gender rights. Alongside the mosque, the stadium was until the Arab revolt erupted in late 2010 the only alternative public space for venting pent-up anger and frustration. It was the training ground in countries like Egypt and Tunisia where militant fans prepared for a day in which their organization and street battle experience would serve them in the showdown with autocratic rulers. Soccer has its own unique thrill – a high-stakes game of cat and mouse between militants and security forces and a struggle for a trophy grander than the FIFA World Cup: the future of a region. This blog explores the role of soccer at a time of transition from autocratic rule to a more open society. It also features James’s daily political comment on the region’s developments. Contact: incoherentblog@gmail.comView my complete profile